1. Field
The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to tomography methods and apparatuses, and more particularly, to tomography methods and apparatuses which may accurately predict a tomography start point in tomography which is performed by injecting contrast media.
2. Description of the Related Art
A medical imaging apparatus is equipment for obtaining an inner structure of an object in the form of an image. A medical image processor is a noninvasive test apparatus and captures images of structural details inside a body, an internal tissue, flow of fluid, etc., processes the images, and displays the images to a user. A user such as a doctor may diagnose a patient's health state and diseases by using a medical image output from the medical image processor.
A computed tomography (CT) apparatus may be a representative apparatus for capturing an image of an object by radiating X-rays to a patient.
Since a CT apparatus, which is a tomography apparatus among medical imaging processing apparatuses, may provide a cross-sectional image of an object, and is advantageous in that it is capable of expressing internal structures (for example, organs such as a kidney and a lung) of the object such that the internal structures do not overlap with each other compared with a general X-ray apparatus, the CT apparatus is widely used for accurate diagnosis of diseases. Hereinafter, a medical image obtained by the tomography apparatus is referred to as a cross-sectional image.
To obtain a cross-sectional image, tomography is performed on an object by using a CT apparatus, and raw data is obtained. Also, a cross-sectional image is reconstructed by using the obtained raw data. Here, the raw data may be projection data obtained by projecting an X-ray to an object, or a sinogram which is a set of projection data.
Tomography captures an image of an object by radiating X-rays to a patient. However, since X-rays used for tomography are a source of radioactivity, the X-ray has a disadvantage in that it is harmful to the human body.
As described above, since X-rays are harmful to the human body due to the radioactivity, a user needs to minimize an amount of radiation to which a patient including an object is exposed during an X-ray examination.